Articles by Section - NATION/WORLD

WASHINGTON (AP) - With higher taxes on the wealthy and billions in new spending, President Barack Obama's no-balance budget lays down an audacious challenge to Republicans who swept to full control of Congress last fall and now claim a mandate to eliminate deficits over the next decade.

ATLANTA (AP) - Messages of support were being offered Monday as people awaited word on singer Whitney Houston's daughter, who authorities say was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub over the weekend in a suburban Atlanta townhome.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Troubled by consumer complaints and loopholes in state laws, federal regulators are putting together the first rules on payday loans aimed at helping cash-strapped borrowers avoid falling into a cycle of high-rate debt.

NEW YORK (AP) - Rod McKuen, the husky-voiced "King of Kitsch" whose avalanche of music, verse and spoken-word recordings in the 1960s and '70s overwhelmed critical mockery and made him an Oscar-nominated songwriter and one of the best-selling poets in history, has died. He was 81.

Archive By Section - NATION/WORLD

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. airlines are saving tens of millions of dollars every week because of lower prices for jet fuel, their largest expense. So why don't they share some of the savings with passengers?

CHICAGO (AP) - Drugmaker Merck & Co. says its cholesterol-lowering medicine ezetimibe met its main goal in a study testing whether adding it to an older type of cholesterol medicine could reduce heart risks. The drug is sold as Zetia and in combination with the statin drug Zocor as Vytorin.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether homeowners who declare bankruptcy can void a second mortgage if the home's market value has dropped below the amount they owe on the first mortgage.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report that blames the nation's high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing and the impacts of pervasive domestic violence.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks are mostly edging lower in late afternoon trading Friday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average eked out another record high. Virgin America jumped 30 percent in its market debut. Energy companies also rose as the price of crude oil turned higher.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks are mostly edging lower in late afternoon trading Friday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average eked out another record high. Virgin America jumped 30 percent in its market debut. Energy companies also rose as the price of crude oil turned higher.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses in afternoon trading Thursday amid generally positive corporate earnings results. DreamWorks soared on a report that Hasbro is trying to buy the movie company. Energy stocks tumbled as the price of oil fell to a four-year low.